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Grocery Game
Grocery Game is a pricing game that uses grocery items and is played for a prize usually valued between $3,000 and $10,000 (although it has also been played for cars and, on two occasions, three rooms of furniture). Having debuted on Price's second episode from September 5, 1972 (aired out of order on September 8), Grocery Game is one of the original five pricing games. Gameplay *The contestant is shown five grocery items. The goal of the game is to buy a total between $20 and $22 (originally $21) inclusive. To do this, the contestant chooses an item, and a quantity of that item to buy. The price is revealed, multiplied by the quantity purchased, and rung up on a cash register. If the total is less than $20, they may choose another item and quantity, which is added to their total. This continues until they have spent over $20 or used all five grocery items. The player loses by spending over $22 or by spending less than $20 after using all five items. If the contestant succeeds in spending between $20-$22, he/she wins the prize. History *Grocery Game first premiered on September 5, 1972 (the second aired show, which aired out of order on September 8) and was created by Goodson-Todman staffer Imie Lane Camelli. Its original winning range was $6.75 to $7.00. This was increased to $20-21 on January 26, 1989 due to inflation and was extended an extra dollar on October 6, 2016. In shows produced during the first week of tapings, the contestant was given $100 at the start of the game. If the player won the game or exhausted all five grocery items before reaching $6.75, he/she kept the $100. *Grocery Game was the third pricing game to be won on the day it premiered and it was won for the very first time on its aired premiere date, September 5, 1972 (aired out of order on September 8). *Originally, the game was revealed first and the grocery items were described before the prize was described (similar to Hi Lo prior to 2008). On November 26, 1974, it was changed to have the prize description read before the game was revealed. *From September 5, 1972 (aired out of order on September 8) until November 28, 2000, Janice Pennington was traditionally the Grocery Game's cashier. On November 23, 1998, she started to wear reading glasses after she made a typographical error on the previous playing. Since December 21, 2000, any one of the models appearing that day will run the cash register, but it's usually Rachel Reynolds; host Drew Carey will often joke that they "found the model at a grocery store working as a checker." *The first four times Grocery Game was played the contestant was awarded supplies of all five groceries regardless of the game's outcome. *On April 5, 1991, the game mistakenly used the Shell Game sign. Additionally, the Grocery Game sign was absent on December 23, 1980, October 15, 1993, June 12, 2003 and September 21, 2015 (the 44th season premiere); the former was because of an abundance of Christmas decorations on the turntable while the latter was a throwback 1972 theme. *On May 1, 1996, the cash register rang up as $21.76; despite this, the "WIN!" light flashed and the winning bell sounded, but Bob apologized for losing for seeing that she went over $21. At the start of the first Showcase Showdown, everyone realized there was an error and that her total was actually $20.76, and so she won the prize. *On October 6, 1999, the cash register malfunctioned and it said $21.45 instead of $20.45. Bob and Janice sort of had a hard time figuring out whether she won or not. But the contestant was awarded the prize due to a technical win. *During The Price is Right Salutes the U.S. Coast Guard Primetime special on May 21, 2003 (aired out of order on July 12, originally rescheduled to air June 6), Grocery Game was played for three different rooms but sadly it was lost. *For the first few years in the Carey era, the five products involved shared a common theme. Each theme was formerly concocted by Scott Robinson of the show's staff. *The first and only perfect win on nighttime show came in the Dennis James Era when a contestant hit $7.00 on the nose with a few purchases, while the first (and only) perfect win ever on the daytime show came on Christmas Day 1979 when a contestant hit $7.00 on the nose with just one purchase. * Dorothy Sye (then known as Dotty Sye), the first player and first winner of Grocery Game (lost her showcase), returned on November 11, 2008 (aired out of order on November 3); she got up onstage and played Coming or Going where she lost and also lost in the Showcase Showdown. *On April 13, 2015 (aired out of order on April 27), the cash register as Rachel was ringing up the first total glitched out. Foreign versions The game has been adapted for many other countries' versions, with the only major difference being the price ranges: Pictures Grocery Game 1.jpg|Here's Grocery Game without its sign or the WIN!/OVER readout on the cash register from September 8, 1972 (aired out of order on September 6) and featured on Disc 1 of the DVD set. Grocery Game 2.jpg|OUCH! Eight cents over! Grocery Game 2b.jpg|But here's better news; a win with 13 cents left to go. Grocery Game 3.jpg|Here's the later look of Grocery Game from the 80s Grocery Game 4.jpg|That's worse than the finishing total above. Grocery Game 5.jpg|Here's better news; a win with two cents left to go. Grocery Game 6.jpg|This is what Grocery Game looks like these days. Grocery Game 7.jpg|The contestant that won did it in one shot. Grocery Game 8.jpg|WOW! A win with three cents left to go! (the total to win was now $20-$21 at this point) GrocGame - Lost by a Penny.jpg|Without a doubt, the most heartbreaking total in the history of this game (at least in the $20-$21 era). Grocery Game 9.jpg|From 2002: Without a doubt, the worst total in the history of this game (at least in the $20-$21 era). Grocery Game (70s Edition).jpg|Notice something here? That's right, no sign! That's because (as noted above), when the game debuted, it had no sign. However, we're still playing with the then-used $20-$21 range here. groverygamewin20-22.jpg|The first win in the $20-$22 range. Grocery.jpg 25k245t.png YouTube Videos Grocery Game Premiere (September 5, 1972, aired out of order on September 8) An early perfect playing of Grocery Game (December 25, 1979) The cash register malfunctions! (October 6, 1999) The worst playing of Grocery Game ever! (November 1, 2002) Grocery Game for a truck (May 10, 2012) Rob Wilson's Only Time as a Grocery Game Cashier (January 8, 2013, aired out of order on October 16, 2012) A Win from 2014 (April 16, 2014) Grocery Game for a Prius (October 27, 2014) Category:Pricing Games Category:Active Games Category:Grocery Product Games Category:Cash Award Games Category:1970s Pricing Games Category:Spending Habits Category:Must be in the Range to Win Category:Home Base Pricing Games Category:Primetime Pricing Games Category:Correct Price is Told Category:Can Be Finished Immediately Category:Instant Winning Pricing Games Category:Long Play Category:Hard Winning Pricing Games Category:"G" Pricing Games Category:2-Word Pricing Games